Companies Plan to Make Employees Take on More Healthcare Costs

A new survey revealed that a majority of “big employers plan to shift a larger share of health-care costs to their workers next year,” reports David S. Hilzenrath from The Washington Post. The survey found that 56 percent of employers plan to make their employees pay more of the costs next year. A lot of companies say they might “charge more to cover spouses, tighten eligibility standards for their health plans and dispense financial rewards or penalties based on the results of certain lab tests,” states Hilzenrath. Some companies even say that overweight employees might be excluded from the most desirable plans.

Many employers fear that healthcare reform will increase the costs of insurance plans, yet Hilzenrath states that “with or without reform, coverage at big corporations is likely to become less affordable, and it could become more restrictive.” This survey is a reminder that even people with the most stable medical coverage who are happy with their current insurance plans can’t rely on their plans staying the same, and it shows that the “constant, unrelenting increases in health-care costs are going to cost employees and their families more and more,” stated Helen Darling, president of the National Business Group on Health.